Bengals: Latest news lowers difficulty in must-have game vs. Patriots
The Cincinnati Bengals are dealing with a ton of injuries themselves, but recent news should make the upcoming game against the New England Patriots somewhat easier. The Patriots, who boast one of the best defenses in the NFL, will be without starting cornerback Jalen Mills. The team made it official on Thursday when they ruled […]
The Cincinnati Bengals are dealing with a ton of injuries themselves, but recent news should make the upcoming game against the New England Patriots somewhat easier. The Patriots, who boast one of the best defenses in the NFL, will be without starting cornerback Jalen Mills.
The team made it official on Thursday when they ruled out Mills, WR DeVante Parker, and LS Joe Cardona.
Mills is easily the most relevant absence considering how the Patriots' defensive back room could struggle against the Bengals' wide receiver core. The Patriots like to run a lot of man coverage. In fact, they have the fifth-highest man coverage rate in the NFL this season.
But there's a small problem with that when you're facing Joe Burrow's offense.
You have to be better than your rival to win in man and the Bengals wide receivers are among the best in the league with Ja'Marr Chase leading the way. And although it's a legitimately good defense, the Patriots DBs aren't better than the Bengals WRs. Even less so with Mills out.
But this is Bill Belichick we're talking about!
The guy who was ten years old when he explained to a coach why we had to change to an Oklahoma 5-2 defensive scheme before facing an upcoming opponent. I'm not making that up, by the way, the book The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam tells this story.
I don't expect Belichick and the Patriots to stick to man coverage because it'd be unlike the legendary coach to not adjust.
The Bengals will likely face a very different defensive style on Saturday.
Expect Belichick to play a ton of zone on this one, especially as every starting wideout from Cincinnati will have a height advantage against the Patriots' corners, as noted by Evan Lazar from Patriots.com. Simulated pressures will also be featured to try to fool Burrow; a tough task.
The Bengals are just 3.5-point favorites over the 7-7 Patriots. Although that's a lower betting spread than many would've expected, it's probably justified by a defense that keeps exceeding expectations.
Expect Burrow and friends to do their best to avoid another slow start that requires a stellar defensive performance to mount a second-half comeback like last week's.
Featured image via Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
